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There been long debates on ‘Is music Halal or Haram’, and have come up with hundreds of pages, so categorizing it halal and some haraam. Not on web, but in TV talk shows and live discussions, same is the situation. Well, keeping it in a corner, I got stuck on one thing, i.e. what actually is ‘haraam’. and found a thought provoking statement here:

It says, “we address the respectful scholars who tackle the word “ haram ” easily and set it free in their writings and fatwas that they should observe that Allah is watching over them in all that they say or do. They should also know that this word “ haram ” is very dangerous. It means that Allah’s Punishment is due on a certain act or saying, and should not be based upon guessing, whims, weak Hadiths, not even through an old book. It has to be supported by a clear, well-established text or valid consensus. If these last two are not found, then we revert the given act or saying to the original rule: “permissibility governing things”. We do have a good example to follow from one of our earlier pious scholars. Imam Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: “It was not the habit of those who preceded us, the early pious Muslims, who set good example for the following generations, to say, ‘This is halal , and this is haram . But, they would say, ‘I hate such-and-such, and maintain such-and-such, but as for halal and haram , this is what may be called inventing lies concerning Allah. Did not you hear Allah’s Statement that reads, ‘Say: Have you considered what provision Allah has sent down for you, how you have made of it lawful and unlawful? Say: Has Allah permitted you, or do you invent a lie concerning Allah?” (Yunus: 59) For, the halal is what Allah and His Messenger made lawful, and the haram is what Allah and His Messenger made unlawful.”

While browsing the web I happened to see a very good post on an Islamic discussion board. It was a long one that I’m going to Summarize here:

Etiquette of Prayer:

1- Upon going to sleep, one should make the intention to perform the Prayers. Abu Ad-Darda’ quoted the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as saying:

“Whoever goes to his bed with the intention of getting up and praying during the night, but, being overcome by sleep, fails to do that, he will have recorded for him what he has intended, and his sleep will be reckoned as a charity (an act of mercy) for him from his Lord.”

(An-Nasa’i and Ibn Majah)

2- On waking up, it is recommended that one wipes the face, use a toothbrush, and look to the sky and make the supplication which has been reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

Abu Hudhaifa reported:

“Whenever the Prophet intended to go to bed, he would recite: (With Your name, O Allah, I die and I live).” And when he woke up from his sleep, he would say: (All the Praises are for Allah Who has made us alive after He made us die (sleep) and unto Him is the Resurrection.)”

(Al-Bukhari)

3- One should begin with two quick rak`ahs and then one may pray whatever one wishes after that. `A’ishah said:

“When the Prophet prayed during the late-night, he would begin his Prayers with two quick rak`ahs.”

(Muslim)

4- It is recommended that one wakes up one’s family, for Abu Hurairah quoted the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as saying:

“May Allah bless the man who gets up during the night to pray and wakes up his wife and who, if she refuses to get up, sprinkles water on her face. And may Allah bless the woman who gets up during the night to pray and wakes up her husband and who, if he refuses, sprinkles water on his face.”

(Ahmad)

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also said:

“If a man wakes his wife and prays during the night or they pray two rak`ahs together, they will be recorded among those (men and women) who (constantly) make remembrance of Allah.”

(Abu Dawud.)

5- If one gets sleepy while performing Tahajjud, one should sleep. This is based on the hadith narrated by `A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who quoted Allah’s Messenger as saying:

“When one of you gets up during the night for Prayer and his Qur’anic recital gets mixed up to the extent that he does not know what he says, he should lie down.”

(Muslim.)

Recommended Time for Tahajjud:

Tahajjud may be performed in the early part of the night, the middle part of the night, or the latter part of the night, but after the obligatory `Isha’ Prayer (night Prayer).

While describing the Prophet’s way of performing Prayer, Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

“If we wanted to see him praying during the night, we could see him praying. If we wanted to see him sleeping during the night, we could see him sleeping. And sometimes he would fast for so many days that we thought he would not leave fasting throughout that month. And sometimes he would not fast (for so many days) that we thought he would not fast during that month.”

(Al-Bukhari, Ahmad and An-Nasa’i.)

Commenting on this subject, Ibn Hajar says:

“There was no specific time in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would perform his late night Prayer; but he used to do whatever was easiest for him.”

Best Time for Tahajjud:

It is best to delay this Prayer to the last third portion of the night. Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) quoted the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) as saying:

“Our Lord descends to the lowest heaven during the last third of the night, inquiring: ‘Who will call on Me so that I may respond to him? Who is asking something of Me so I may give it to him? Who is asking for My forgiveness so I may forgive him?’”

(Al-Bukhari)

`Amr ibn `Absah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saying:

“The closest that a slave comes to his Lord is during the middle of the latter portion of the night. If you can be among those who remember Allah the Exalted One at that time, then do so.”

I daily receive many forwarded emails and forward some of those as well but some mails leave deep prints. These either contain some serious issue or a good message. Today I received one such that falls in the last discussed category, so just sharing it! Here it goes:

It’s been long time that I’ve been blogging, and now I’m a fluent blogger, though not an expert. Since I started blogging, I wanted to bring something positive out of my efforts. Well, I don’t know whether I succeeded or not, but a little did I know, I explored many avenues. And, today, it’s a great pleasure announcing Pro Pakistan.

Well, Pro Pakistan is a platform I joined hands with some fellow bloggers including well know M Junaid Khan. It’s not my blog, not Junaid’s blog at all, but It’s a blog of all those who love to read, write and do something practical for Pakistan. You all are cordially invited to participate there by having your say on core issues, challenges and problems faced by the Nation within territory and round the world.

Pro Pakistan will speak your words, truly yours! It’s your voice! We all are connected together, no matter you are in Chaman or in Karachi, USA or UAE. If you’re a Pakistani, and want to have your say, be a part of Pro Pakistan. And even if you are non Pakistani, and want to say something to us, you’re most welcomed!

This writing is a response to an article by Dr Waqar Raza, ‘Being private in public’, published in Dawn28th January. I myself was intending to have a write on “cultural Future of Pakistan”, but I couldn’t do it because of some professional duties. The article by Dr Sahib urged me to have my say on such critical issue.

I totally agree with Dr sahib, but I want to include a few more points in the same context. In my opinion showbiz is a small part of ‘media’, and media is the strongest tool of present day. This is because it has the ability to build minds in desired direction and it leads the minds in accordance with its own desire. Media being an essential part of present society can hence build a nation by promoting national morale and national character. Coming back to showbiz, though it’s a smaller part of media but more effective and attractive one, as the people associated with work in this industry are considered to be the role models, favourite personalities etc for general public, especially for youth. People copy their attitude; they attempt to follow their role in different situations. Now this showbiz can be the best tool to promote national morale and national character, which is deeply associated with the golden principles of Islam. No doubt present day showbiz in Pakistan has left no stone untouched to copy either the western culture or neighbouring culture. And all is being done on the name of modernity. I think there is a wide difference between ‘modernity’ and ‘vulgarity’. Both the terms are far away, not only in origin, but also in application. In this critical situation I think there should be a check on showbiz, which media itself can manage. The other bodies of media should be responsible for the regulation of the showbiz in the country.

In this regard, I happened to observe some really very good efforts by print media, but T.V, being the most accessible media type is not playing its very role. In fact commercialization of T.V has brought a wide cultural and social change in the country. To quote an extreme example I’d like to mention the celebrations of ‘valentine’s day’. Recalling my memories I can see in the past, some half decade ago there was no existence of such day in Pakistan, but last year I was amazed to see programs celebrating the day being aired on a national T.V channel. Media attempting to promote the so called modernization if is going to represent such anomalies will certainly have a negative impact on the society. Promoting modernization is not a bad idea but the culture which is neither beneficial nor productive for a particular society is., and all this is up to the government concerns to regulate this.